Shared Ownership

Top 10 Things You Need to Know Now!

1. This isn’t just for ‘key workers’ such as nurses or teachers, in the main if you earn up to £60k joint income in London or around £30k outside you may be eligible.

2. Shared ownership homes are built by private developers on the same sites as other properties they build to a similar if not higher spec.

3. Only a few lenders will offer mortgages on shared ownership properties (Contact us via enquiries@designsonproperty.co.uk or tel 0845 838 1763 if you need help finding a mortgage).

4. You will need a specialist legal company to advise you that is independent of the developer/housing association on site.

5. Your legals will cost around £100 more than normal buying legals as the shared ownership contract has to be taken into consideration.

6. Property prices are (in theory) at market value, you just have the option to buy a part of the property which tends to be between 25% and 100%. However, be careful that they are in line with the local market, some buyers have found them to be tens of thousands of pounds more than the local agents value them at.

7. Some housing associations only ever allow you to buy 90% of the property so it will never be 100% yours.

8. If you buy off plan and the market drops, you can’t re-negotiate the price; you’ll still need to pay the higher amount.

9. Rents can go up quite regularly – even every year, so be sure that you can continue to afford the property.

10. Make sure you treat the property as a normal new build, get a ‘snagging survey’ done so if there is anything that needs fixing, you can get it sorted BEFORE you move in.